Yuma Trip 2009

posting started 2/6/09

 

Howdy Y'all!  Well, to start off this year's trip to Yuma for the hamfest I want to take you back to last year's trip.  On Sunday, after the hamfest, a number of the guys went to the California desert and met some friends of John, N5AAA and Jan, KA9VQS and had the opportunity to have some fun riding in dune buggies and playing in the sand.  Pictures of this fun time were included in last year's Yuma trip web page.  In October of last year, in a special issue of "San Diego Off Road Magazine" the following photos were included of our group:

Page 40

 

Page 43

 

Hokay!  So much for last year's fun!  On Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 Bill, KA8ZBW and Keith, WA8ZWJ left Dayton and headed south towards Tennessee.  On their way through Louisville, Kentucky they met one of Bill's cousin's for a brunch visit!  Bill had not seen his cousin for 8 years or so!

In the photo panel below you will see Bill and Keith just prior to their departure.  Further down on the left side you will see Bill and his cousin John.  On the right in the middle below is a shot of one of the guys who was working in the tower base hole when the two guys from Dayton arrived in Spring Hill, Tennessee at John, N5AAA and Jan, KA9VQS's QTH.  He was welding the rebar and reinforcing the support structure.

At the bottom of the panel, respectively, you see John and Jan!

 

The guys who are working on the pole barn and tower project arrived before 7AM this morning (Friday, 2/6/09) and the first cement mixer was not far behind them.  So, today they poured the base for the tower and the floor and approach to the pole barn.

As you can see in the pictures, the weather was beautiful!  The temperature got up to 60 degrees!  Delightful!

 

You can really get a feel for how large the pole barn is when you see the cement mixer inside without difficulty!

 

After the initial dust settled and things settled down some, Bill and Keith headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee.  There we played tourist in downtown Lynchburg and then toured the Jack Daniels Distillery.  Below you can see where we ate lunch - the Bar-B-Cue Caboose Cafe.

 

 

Need a barrel?

 

ZWJ enjoys "sittin' at the bar"!  Too many memories to go back to there!

 

Here's an early delivery truck!

 

The shot of the T Shirt below was taken with Lee, WA8MSD in mind!  Yee haw!

 

In the middle left below is a picture of the cave where ALL the water used in making Jack Daniels comes from!

 

Here's a snap shot of an old Jack Daniels marching band and a few of their instruments.  (Bill & Keith are retired band directors)

 

Below middle right - Bill gets a whiff of the mash....

 

Here is the group photo taken of our tour group that was posted on the Jack Daniel's web site (www.jackdaniels.com).

 

 

Below is a shot of John and Jan's place.  On the left you can see the new pole barn that is under construction.  On the right between the telephone pole and it's guy wire, if you look carefully, you can see the wire box where the tower will be.   (There will be a duplicate shot later with the tower standing)

 

Tada!  Here is the new tower base!  Truly beautiful!  It is hard to imagine that the hole is about 5 feet deep!

 

Below is a shot of the pole barn under construction with the newly poured floor and approach apron!  As you can see in the photo on the right, the guys worked long into the night making sure that the concrete will cure correctly!

 

This will be a project in progress!  More to come from this month long sojourn from Dayton to Yuma and back!

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added 2/8/09

Wow!  More gorgeous weather!  The driveway pour and tower work continued yesterday!  They poured the lower portion of the driveway and man, does it look nice.  We worked on bolting together the tower sections - 15 bolts per section!

In the above photos you can see that Hazer track laying along side that will be attached to the side of the tower.

 

Once we had the tower together, we then worked on bolting on the Hazer track.  In the mean time, the guys continued to work concrete.

In the above left photo you can see the Hazer track now attached to the side of the tower.

 

Saturday night we went to The Loveless Cafe and Motel to meet Bill's cousin and her husband for dinner.  We had a fun dinner that was served family style that included fried chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, green beans and their famous biscuits!  As you can see on the little piggy at the bottom, we are "Hammin' It Up!"

more to come...

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posted 2/13/08

On Sunday, 2/8/09, we spent the afternoon finishing the assembly of the tower and attaching the Hazer track.  In the second panel below on the left you see where we had a conflict between the Hazer bolts and tower section bolts.  Bill, KA8ZBW found a different Hazer cross member that managed to correct the problem.  Below, middle right, you can see one of the screw anchors for the guy system as it is going into the ground.  Man!  What a job!  Finally, the bottom left shows John, N5AAA playing with the bobcat, just on account of because and bottom right shows the upper driveway that will be next to pour.

 

Monday morning we finished all the final touches and around noon, with help from the driveway crew, we did the erection!  Actually, once we got it started the bobcat actually did all the work!  Now, notice who the bobcat driver is?  Yes, that is right!  None other than our own IOOK President, KBob, KG7SB!  Nice job KBob!

 

Up.....up.....and UP!

 

So, here are pictures of the tower from several angles.  Below right you see Bill, KA8ZBW and Jan, KA9VQS installing the bolts that anchor the tilt over base to the tower base.

OK!  We have had several inquiries regarding how this whole thing works.  When the Hazer is ready to go up you drop the guy wires so that the antennas can clear the guys.  To simplify that effort, the turnbuckles have a clevis pin through eye of the guy anchor that makes it easy to remove the guy (remove the bolt through the clevis and drop the guy).  So, on a calm day, you drop the guys, raise the Hazer and then reattach the guy wires.  The tower does not get tilted over unless you have a vehicle with a power winch to lower and raise it.

Oh yes, the tower is a Glen Martin 60 foot aluminum tower with Hazer track that is attached to one side of the tower.

 

Now, when they get around to pouring the rest of the driveway, they are also going to pour a new base for the air conditioner units.

 

Now, can you imagine how we all looked at each other and went "No way!" when we saw this photo below.  We immediately went outside and stood in the same place and no, the chimney does not lean to the right and NO the tower does NOT lean to the left.  It must be an optical illusion caused by pixelation when the digital camera did it's thing!  If you have a better explanation, I look forward to hearing from you!

 

OK!  Below left you see the copy of the photo taken earlier that now shows the tower standing in the background between the power pole and power pole guy anchor.

I caught KBob checking out the trench where the electric line goes out to the new pole barn.  He gave it quite a close check!

 

Finally, here is an up-to-date shot of John, N5AAA in his hamshack after it had been rearranged.  :-)

Bill and I pass along our thanks to John and Jan for their hospitality.  We had a wonderful visit!

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On Tuesday, 2/10/09, we left Spring Hill, TN and headed west.  We met Max, KC4YG in Memphis for a dandy brunch!  Thanks to Max for making the effort to join us on our way through town.

 

This is where we stopped for dinner in the town of Big Sandy, TX.

 

After one wrong turn by ZWJ that cost us an hour travel time and a couple of small turn errors by ZBW and a delay in Hillsboro, TX while we waited for a heavy storm to pass, we arrived at the HOSSienda (also known as the Lazy K Ranch) after 17 hours on the road!  We were entertained along the way by a number of "one liners" via APRs from N5AAA and WA5ZAI and a number of 40 meter QSO's with WA5ZAI!  Hoss took photos of our arrival!

 

Below you see a few shots of the room where Bill is staying here and then some photos of the menagerie including Max, Annie and Callie.

 

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posted 2/14/09

 

Wednesday, 2/11/09, we got started on local chores at the Lazy K Ranch.  First we installed the new VHS/DVD player/recorder and digital TV converter and interfaced them into the satellite TV system and TV.  Then we took our mid morning walk.  Below you see one of the neighbor's horses in the side pasture.  Then you see the HOSSienda with some of the trees out front.  On the middle left below is the entry gate into the compound at the Lazy K Ranch.  Middle right is a picture of some cactus growing near the gate.  Bottom left is the backside of Hoss and Max as they head into the distance at breakneck speed.  Bottom right is a burro that one of the neighbor's have in their pasture.

 

Here are some more burro shots.  Middle right is a shot of Hoss, Bill and Max.  The shots at the bottom are of Hoss's antenna farm.

 

After our walk we went over to visit our friend Alice Chandler at the gun shop!  We found out she is planning to get married in April!  Congratulations Alice!

 

In the afternoon we worked on Hoss's weather station.  First Bill dug a dandy hole - OK - he broke up the rock that is under a thin layer of top soil and then we erected the support for the new rain gauge.  After "planting" the support, we soldered some wires that animals had chewed through and we got the weather station all back up and running!  Yee haw!

 

Wednesday evening we got to have dinner at the Bunkhouse BBQ!  What a great dinner!  Then we got on the IOOK 40 meter Wednesday net and visited with the gang.  Bill took a picture of Hoss's Retirement Clock!  Too funny!

 

Thursday morning before dawn we took off and headed to San Antonio.  We took in a tour of the Alamo.  If you have never been to the Alamo, it really is a place you ought to consider visiting.

 

 

After our sightseeing we went to visit Bert, K0JIH and his XYL, Evie.  Knowing that Bill and I are retired band directors, Bert reminisced some about his musical experiences.  Did you know that Bert and Bill both played in a drum and bugle corps once upon a time?  Bert had played in a Shrine Drum and Bugle Corps and Bill had played in both a junior and senior Drum and Bugle Corps.  It turns out they both had played Baritone Bugle for a period of time and Bert brought his bugle out for Bill to see.  (see middle right below)  Bert and Evie's daughter, Lauren showed up for a visit while we were there so, it was nice to visit with her as well!

 

Here's a shot of Bert in his Hamshack/computer room.

 

Here's a shot of Bert's antenna farm!

 

Below left you see Bill in his most familiar position from my perspective so far this trip.  He is watching his mapping program while we drive down the road.  Below right you see Bill and I relaxing on the sofa after a shrimp stir fry dinner Thursday evening.  Delicious!

 

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Friday morning we headed into Waco.  After a stop to get Bill's blood test at a lab in town we headed to the Dr. Pepper Museum.  We were surprised by the number of exhibits that had been changed and updated since the last time that Hoss and I were there.

 

 

After leaving the museum we went to lunch at Buzzard Billy's.

 

Then we went to the Texas Ranger Hall Of Fame.  Again, a lot of the exhibits had been updated.  I am not sure what the significance is of the QSL card that was in one of the displays.  Obviously, he had something to do with the Texas Rangers.

 

 

Friday evening Margareth fixed a dandy lasagna dinner!

 

Saturday morning Ron, AA5RT and Joanne joined us for sirnicki breakfast!  The guys spent the morning visiting while the girls took in an antique shopping spree.  Then we headed to the Coffee Station in Crawford for lunch.  This morning the weather had cooled off some (44 degrees when we got up) and, according to Hoss, was not fit for human consumption!  The high today was in the low 60's!  Margareth wore her winter coat to dinner this evening.

 

I spent the afternoon working on pictures for the web page and we then went to Margareth's display ay the mall in Clifton.  Dinner was at the Bunkhouse BBQ!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow we will play radio in the morning and then load the van for our trip to Yuma for the hamfest.  We will be leaving early Monday morning.

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This update posted on Wednesday, 2/25/09

 

Sunday morning we played radio!  We spent the afternoon packing the van and preparing for the trip.

 

Sunday evening Margareth prepared an incredible dinner for the gang and invited friends, Jan and Murray over to join us for dinner.

 

To bring you up-to-date, Bill, Hoss and Keith left Valley Mills, Texas around 6:30 AM on Monday, 2/16/09. We traveled to Lampasas, TX and had breakfast at our favorite restaurant, the Country Kitchen!  The old guys are still playing their poker game.  The player piano stands ready to provide instant entertainment.  We had a beautiful day for travel – sunshine and in the upper 60's to low 70's.  During the afternoon we enjoyed several 40 meter skeds with N5AAA and N0BIX.  We also received several APRS "one liners" from N5AAA. 

 

 

We had a delicious dinner near Las Cruces at La Posta De La Mesilla.    Man, what a great place!

In the photo above right, Bill is making a purchase at the Jewelry Store at La Posta.  The photo is taken from outside the building through a window.  That evening we stayed in Lordsburg, Mew Mexico.

 

Tuesday morning found us at Kranberry's near the motel for breakfast – another favorite stop for us!  As we continued our travels west, we decided that we would begin our sightseeing portion of the trip by stopping at a couple of sights near Benson, AZ. 

Above are a few shots from our travels from Lordsburg, NM to Tucson, AZ.

 

First was the Historic town of Tombstone.  Yes – all the original type buildings and the OK Corral!

 

The shot of the "Walter" book below was taken with KF8KK in mind.  No, not that kind of thought.  I was thinking about ducks.  Nuf sed.

Above you can see Hoss and Keith playing a short hand of poker with Doc Holiday.  :-)

 

I just love this sign shown below!  There is another great sign a bit later!  Incredible!

 

 

 

We left Tombstone a bit earlier than we really wanted in effort to include Kartchner Caverns on our way into Tucson.  However, when we got there, we found out that they were sold out of tour tickets for the day and they now require at least 24 hour advanced contact for tickets.

 

After checking into our motel in Tucson, Joe, WA5FLT showed up and we went to dinner at fantastic steak house.  Notice the Calumet, Oklahoma Police patch?  Joe is the Chief of Police at Calumet!  Across the parking lot from the restaurant was this motel with the cheapest rates we had ever seen!

 

 

Wednesday morning we met for breakfast and then headed south of town to the Titan Missile Museum.  This was a tour that we did last year that was well worth repeating.  You can see that Joe, WA5FLT is not just any ordinary Joe!

 

 

Hoss seemed to think that each IOOK Vice President ought to be issued one of the vapor detectors shown above.

 

Here you can see the engines used to power the rockets.  Also, there is a great look down into the missile silo.

Above right check out the thickness of the door to Hoss's right as he goes into the below ground center.

 

These photos show the control center.  Notice the large springs that the room is suspended upon.  That way, in case of a "near miss" things don't get broken.

 

Below you can see the loops between sections of the center as well as shock absorbers.

 

In case the discone antenna is damaged, there were two more HF antennas stored below ground that could be erected.  These were a very early form of a screwdriver type antenna as they were adjusted to the appropriate length to match the frequency that was to be used.

 

From there we went to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and managed to take in about half of the self guiding walking tour before deciding we would have to save the other half for another trip.

 

Live reptiles are seen in exhibits in environments that resemble their normal habitat.

 

Naturally there are lots of desert plants to see as well!

The museum also has a small cave that shows a lot of different formations 

 

In addition to the plants on display, numerous wildlife exhibits show animals including the puma shown below in their natural habitat.

 

From there we drove through the Saguaro National Park West (we did East last year).

 

We learned that Saguaro cactus take 35 years to reach a height of 6 feet.  It is not uncommon for many of the cactus shown to be over 150 years old.

 

On our way back to the motel we stopped by the Old Tucson Studios movie set where over 300 westerns where filmed.  Bill and Keith took a tour while Hoss and Joe cooled their heels.

 

These are actual laws that were on the books in the 1800's!

 

 

 

One of the attractions was a "haunted" mine with a fun "old miner" who led us through the mine tour.  Follow the light!

It's the kind of place you could easily spend an entire day if you have any interest in old western movies.

 

Shortly after returning to the motel, Tom, W3TOM arrived and we all went to dinner at the Opa Greek Restaurant! What a fantastic dinner!

 

 

 

Thursday morning we headed west once again and arrived in Yuma around 11AM. After checking into our motel we ran a few errands and went to the hamfest site and put up the IOOK Banner in the booth.

 

After a rest period at the motel we gathered up the gang (adding Bill's cousin, Bev) and the six of us went to the Cocopah Casino for their buffet dinner.  As Big Al says, we left there "all fed up"!

Upon our arrival back at the motel we found out that Ron, W6KJ had arrived and Hoss, Joe and Keith went and visited with him for a while before heading to bed for the night.  Oh yes, the weather is beautiful!  It was near 80 and sunny today!

 

Friday morning found us in readiness to go to breakfast and then head to the hamfest and get things set up.  Since I have been too cheap to pay extra for Internet access, I am not sure when I will have the opportunity to post this.  Maybe there will be wifi at the hamfest?  We shall see.  Even when I do get around to posting this, it will be some time before the pictures get posted on the web site because I am way behind on working on those as well!

 

 

Notice Joe's price tag on the bottom of his boot?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Vice Presidential Marine Air Cap continued this year!  We sold a number of things at the hamfest Friday so things are good!  

 

Friday night we had a dandy get together at the Village Inn Pizza!

 

 

 

Two new IOOK'ers were added to the ranks!

 

Here is an after dinner shot of some of the gang!

 

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posted Thursday, 2/26/09

Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the IHOP near the motel and then headed to the hamfest to set up.  The first guy we encountered at the hamfest was Ralph, K7YUM who has the local UHF repeater that has EchoLink on it and is a great friend of the IOOK!

 

Saturday lunch was IN-N-OUT again!  They even threw in a few orders of Animal Style fries to go along with our Animal Style #1 burgers.  Delicious!

A very special thanks goes out to Ron, W6KJ for making the runs to IN-N-OUT for our lunches!  Salute!

 

We sold a number of more items during the hamfest on Saturday and ended up with two empty tubs!  Yee haw!  In the panel below in the photo 3rd down on the left you see a rare shot of WA8ZWJ on his cell phone calling home.

 

It's time for the Old Buzzard's BBQ!

 

 

KBob really seems to like the BBQ!  He always eats several servings and still manages to stay thin!

 

 

 

We had several IOOK'ers win prizes.  WA5ZAI won a multi-meter.  Ron Karimi won a pencil torch.  W6KJ won a $20 gift certificate catalog!

 

Sunday morning we ate at IHOP again and had the same GREAT waitress - Leah!

 

After breakfast KA8ZBW, W3TOM, W6KJ, WA5ZAI and WA8ZWJ headed to Poway, California to visit with Charlie, NN3V.  We were pleased to see that Ted, KF6BFI and his XYL, Menchie, KG6WNV were there as well!

 

As you can see, Charlie is doing well.  He is getting around really well and, according to his XYL, Eli, he has even gained some weight recently.  Charlie is tired of being sick and doesn't seem to see the fantastic progress he is making.  We all emphasized the importance for him to maintain a positive attitude regarding his recovery.

 

Charlie made a presentation to the IOOK during our visit.  He sponsored an IOOK Marker for the ARRL Diamond Terrace that says "In Honor Of The I.O.O.K.  A Way Of Life"  Many thanks to Charlie for his most generous donation in the name of the IOOK!

 

 

 

Then the guys got a hamshack tour of Charlie's hamshack!  What a great shack!

Several years ago when Ted first visited Charlie's hamshack he didn't realize that the door was a short as it is and knocked himself out in the process of trying to enter!  Hence the shot of Ted's nose at the top of the door jamb!

 

The bumper sticker on Eli's SUV says "Silence is golden, but, duct tape is silver!  Too funny!  After 3 hours the gang headed back towards Yuma and W6KJ headed north towards Yuba City.

Above left is a shot of W3TOM after we dropped him off in Yuma and then headed towards Tucson where we planned to stay the night.  As you can see the weather was fantastic!

 

Our luck with good weather continued on Monday.  As we approached Fort Stockton, Texas the temperature reached 86 degrees!  Fantastic!

You can imagine our surprise when the gal at the motel suggested we eat dinner at KBob's Steakhouse!  The dinner was fantastic and we had another great waitress!

 

Tuesday morning we headed towards the Lazy K Ranch.

 

Here are a few views of the Vice Presidential Highway (US 190) through west Texas.  As usual, there were few cars encounter during this portion of the trip.

When we arrived at the Lazy K Ranch near Valley Mills, Texas the temperature was a delightful 82 degrees!  After we unloaded the van, Hoss noticed that Waylen, Willie (long horned steers) and the neighbor's horse were up by the fence in Hoss's pasture at the back of the house.  Another fantastic day's travel was concluded with a delightful visit to the Bunkhouse BBQ!  Ahhh!

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posted 3/4/09

Wednesday morning first thing, Keith headed into Valley Mills and had the oil changed on the van.  Then after walking Max, the group headed into Waco for a shopping spree as Bill was still looking for a few gifts to bring to loved ones back home.  The remainder of Keith's time was spent working on pictures to prepare them for this web page.  He posted those photos late Wednesday evening.  Below you see a donkey from one of the farms during our walk.  Also you see Hoss's antenna farm from a distance.  Bottom left is a photo of the Saddlery where Bill had his new belt embossed with his callsign and he order a custom made pouch for his camera.  Finally there is a photo of a burro from our Friday walk.

 

Thursday we spent the day resting up and Friday we picked up Bill's belt and ran some errands in Waco.  Friday evening we went to Meridian, Texas to see Jessie at the other Bunkhouse BBQ and had dinner there.  It was great seeing Jessie, as we had not seen him for a couple of years since they opened the Meridian Restaurant.

 

Below are a couple of photos of our hosts in Texas. Hoss and Margareth!  Of course, Max wanted to get into the shot as well!

 

Saturday morning departure....

Annie, Max and Margareth have the couch back to normal!  :-)

 

Saturday morning (2/28/09) we headed towards Stillwater, Oklahoma.  As we were going along the way we decided to have lunch at the Two Frogs Grill, which turned out to be a blues bar and Louisiana style eatery.  Delightful!  As we passed through Norman, Oklahoma we called numerous times on N5MS's repeater but never heard him.  Shucks!

As we were passing through Oklahoma City, Keith was really surprised to see a squad car with it's lights on behind him.  He had been going 5 miles under the speed limit all day because the winds were so strong!  He could not imagine why he was being pulled over.  The officer came up to the window and asked about his license and before Keith could retrieve it, he mentioned that the reason he pulled us over was because the left rear tire looked mighty low.  He asked Keith to step out and look at it and while Keith was examining the tire, Stan, N5JFQ, jumped out from behind the van and with his arms raised high in the air yelled "GOTCHA!"  Stan is also an officer on the Oklahoma City Police force!  We pulled off the next exit and visited in a parking lot and then Stan suggested that his buddy Mike pose Keith by the car for the above shot!  What a surprise!  It turns out that Stan had been watching via his IPhone our progress via the Internet APRS and knew about when we would come by them!  Dang!  Hey Stan!  Paybacks are hell!

 

Upon our arrival at Jim, W5JCS's place in Stillwater, we got to meet his mother, Carolyn.  Great lady!  After a short visit, Jim took us on a tour of the Oklahoma State University (the other OSU) as well as a number of other campus sights.  Jim works for the university.  We stopped at Mexico Joe's for some libation and then went to Eskimo Joe's for a fantastic welcome reception already in progress.  Jim got the young waitress to pose with he and Bill under the Motorola Radio sign in the bar.  Several T shirts and pictures later we headed back to Jim's place to coordinate dinner plans.

Above Keith and Bill model the Eskimo Joe's T shirts - Eskimo Joe's is second in T shirt sales only to the Hard Rock Cafe.

 

We met Joe, WA5FLT and Kathy at Jim's and then headed to dinner at the Hideaway Pizza House.

 

At the restaurant we met Lynn, W5LC and Ken, K5LC and Stan, N5JFQ joined us as well!  Great pizza!

Just FYI, the Hideaway is the oldest restaurant in Stillwater!

 

After dinner we went back to Jim's and played computer.  We attempted to authenticate Jim on EchoLink, but, due to a number of problems encountered, he will have to finish that part of the EchoLink installation himself.  We did manage to get Skype up and running after determining that his desktop computer just didn't seem to have enough horsepower to handle it.  So, we loaded it on the laptop and it worked fine!

The above two photos were taken in the "Man Cave" - Jim's basement - he also has a 20 meter stealth antenna there below ground.  And we wonder about his crappy signals?  Sheesh!

 

Sunday morning we played radio on the 20 meter and 40 meter IOOK nets.  Below is a shot of Jim's hamshack and his stealth G5RV antenna.  Just FYI, his rigs are:  Yaesu FT-857, Yaesu FT-1500M, Drake R-4B, Drake T-4XB.  He has hopes of installing a tower this summer and installing some "decent" antennas!  We all have our fingers crossed for you, Jim!  Below you see KBob checking out the outside portion of Jim's installation.  KBob said that Jim also needs to purchase an amplifier to replace the one he sold a while back!

After lunch Bill and Keith headed east toward Missouri and Keith's cousin's place.

 

Upon our arrival at Bob and Sue Hughes' farm near Nevada, Missouri, Bob and Sue were just returning home from the Memphis, Tennessee area where they had been to celebrate Sue's sister's 50th birthday.  Sue's dad, Leonard had joined them for the trip.  Son Lincoln and grandson Cael were the first to drop by followed shortly thereafter by daughter Lara and grandson Trenton.

 

After dinner, KBob watched Bob and Keith play a round of Cribbage.

 

Monday morning found Bill, Keith and Bob running errands.  Bob took the guys to a welding shop where they have a machine that cuts metal up to one half inch think with water!  Amazing!  And, as you can see, it does it with computerized detail.

This metal horse will be used on a weather vane that a customer had ordered.

 

We then stopped and visited with Bob's brother Ronnie.

 

From there we went to Lincoln's farm which is just down the road from Bob's farm.  Lincoln and his brother-in-law, Doug (Lara's husband) were working on a diesel engine.

Monday night Bob fixed an incredible shrimp, steak and potato dinner that was to die for!

 

We were on the road by 6AM Tuesday morning.  We had a lot of miles to cover plus we wanted to meet N0BIX for lunch and we would lose an hour when we crossed back into the Eastern time zone.  Our goal was to make it home in time to eat dinner at the Toll House Tavern at 6PM.

Above you see Bill driving while Keith transferred pictures to the computer so we could give copies to N0BIX for the Yuma 09 DVD that he plans to make.

 

We met N0BIXie (Bob) shortly before 11AM so we had a few minutes before the restaurant opened.  So we transferred photos from Keith's laptop to Bob's thumb drive in the van.  Yes, it was cold!  Brrr!  27 degrees is quite a shock after being in the 80's for a few weeks!  ARGH! 

As you can see, there was no fun here - it was all business!  Right!

 

Once inside the restaurant, Bob called John, N5AAA!  We all got to wish him a happy birthday!  We also had a nice lunch - salad bar etc.!

 

 

We arrived home about ten minutes until 6 so we had time to off load Bill's stuff into his car and then we all headed to the Toll House Tavern.  John Kovach stopped by and picked up Bev so Bill and Bev would not have to drive home separately.  :-)

 

 

Here is some data from the GPS:

1.  Total miles driven = 6,835.5

2.  Average Driving Speed = 60.2 MPH

3.  Maximum Speed = 87.4

4.  Total Driving Time = 113 hours 27 minutes

 

We want to thank everyone for their fantastic hospitality and generosity.  We have had a delightful month of travel!  A special thanks goes out to Bev and Marian for being so understanding!

 

Thank you to:   KA8ZBW, KA9VQS, KD7TZU, N0BIX, N5AAA, Ron Karimi, WA5FLT, WB5TUG, WA5ZAI & WA8ZWJ for their photos!

73, Keith, WA8ZWJ